18th Century Furniture - The Regence part 2

The New Style Spreads
The Court's move to Paris meant that Paris became fashionable, and the French nobility began to prefer city life to the isolation of their country residences. They refurbished their grand homes in Paris and built new ones, and the merchant classes followed suit. Rooms remained sparsely furnished, with the majority of the furniture, now reproduction furniture, arranged symmetrically around the walls, to show off the highly polished, wooden parquet floors.
Furniture followed the significant changes to design and elements of Regence style that the refurbishment of the Palais Royal had introduced. Instead of having straight legs, cupboards, tables, and chairs were now slightly curved, echoing the contour of a crossbow (contour a L'arbalete).
Veneers, including boullework, were still popular, and thin bronze inlays were used to frame drawers, panels, edges, corners, and legs of furniture.
The commode evolved from the chest of drawers, and had curved legs and an exaggerated curved case, described as bombe. Pairs of commodes with pier glasses, or console tables, often flanked windows, and stools were designed to fit window embrasures. The most popular variation was the commode developed by Cressent. This piece had two drawers - one above the other - a serpentine front and a shaped apron, supported on cabriole legs.
The bureau Mazarin was replaced by the bureau plat - a writing table with three shallow drawers. These pieces were usually veneered in expensive woods and had ormolu mounts on the edges of the cases and feet, forming 'shoes' known as sabots.

Fashionable Influences
The new interest in salons, where people could gather for conversation, was led largely by women, and meant the elegant, less formal rooms became popular. Woman also influenced chair design. This had changed little until about 1720, when the fashion for hooped skirts led to chair arms being shortened.
Chair backs were lowered to accommodate the elaborate coiffures of the day. A desire for greater comfort brought about the creation of the bergere, an armchair with upholstered panels between the arms and seat.
The fauteuil, an upholstered armchair with open sides, had many variations - the fauteuil a la Reine rested against the panelled wall of a room - while the smaller fauteuil en cabriolet could be moved to the centre of a room.
In reception rooms, the shapes of sofa and chair backs (non fitted furniture) echoed the wall panelling, and the seating was upholstered in matching fabrics, usually costly woven silks.

French Commode
A very elegant, late 18th century French bow fronted commode of pleasant proportions in cherry and cocuswood.
Cocuswood (also sometimes spelled "coccuswood") is one of the classic woods, one of the first exports from the West Indies to Europe. It is sometimes called Jamaican ebony.
Generally used for musical instruments and is unusual to be used in larger pieces of furniture.

Tapestry-Covered Fauteuil

This pieces of handmade furniture, a walnut armchair has non padded arms with scrolling carved supports. The cabriole legs are joined by a cross stretcher and have outward pointing toes.